Garment hangers have been made for consumer and other uses in various sizes and shapes and various materials. The common ordinary garment hanger is the wire garment hanger made of a single strand of wire to present a hook segment, a pair of inclined side segments extending downwardly and outwardly from the hook segment, and a bottom segment interconnecting the outer ends of the inclined side segments. Garment hangers of this type are extremely simple and rugged in construction, are inexpensive to produce and replace, and have enough strength to support even relatively heavy garments.
A major drawback in the use of a wire type garment hanger is that the shoulders of a garment are not properly supported by the wire defining the inclined side segments of the hanger. The wire side segments are so small that creases often form in the shoulder area of the garment if the garment hangs on the hanger for any appreciable time. While garment hangers having padded or quilted side segments are commercially available, they are generally so expensive that only a relatively few number are purchased by a consumer for closet use.
Because of these drawbacks, a need has existed for improvements in garment hangers, especially of the type made from a single strand of wire, so that garments of all sizes, weights and shapes can be properly hung without causing creases in the shoulder regions thereof.
Prior disclosures in the garment hanger field include the following U.S. and foreign patents:
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,074,071 PA0 2,123,369 PA0 2,219,520 PA0 2,434,461 PA0 2,591,163 PA0 2,813,668 PA0 3,301,447 PA0 3,680,747 PA0 3,886,810 PA0 Gr. Br. No. 1,111,063 PA0 Can. No. 696,161 PA0 U.S. Pat. No. 3,484,029